There are many many variations and derivatives of the Denison smock. A huge number of countries, particularly from the commonwealth or those who wore the Denison during the war, would take the basic pattern and create their own iterations. The French and their Tap47 series, the South Africans, Rhodesians, Australians, the list goes on. However, very few of the pieces are quite as beautiful, and quite as rare as the Canadian "Jacket, Airborne, Nylon".
That this is based on a denison is fairly clear. The same long bodied, four pocket design, a tail that was designed to attach under the crotch, waist adjusters, all found on its older brother. But there are a couple of notable differences. The first was the inclusion of the chunky full zip, something the British would later incorporate in their 59 pattern series. The second the nylon material, which over time has faded into a beautiful mixture of shades of pale olive green. Finally, the third was a large pocket across the rear.
Designed in the very early 50s, these would be produced until 1958, but according to my research would stay in use until the early 70s when they were replaced by a very similar DPM version. The same period of time would see a dramatic reduction in Canada's armed forces, which has meant very few of these were made so it's incredibly rare to see one up for sale.
Condition.
This came to me in pretty rough shape, but she's cleaned up beautifully. I've had to replace the zipper with a period Conmar of matching colour and weight, I've had to replace the camo around the collar which had been torn completely off, and I've replaced missing jump wing and chevron using period correct originals. She's now look amazing, and would fit beautifully in any collection. A wonderful condition piece.
Size
- No tag but fits a modern medium/large
- Pit to pit 23.5"
- Shoulder to shoulder 19"
- Shoulder to cuff 26"
- Collar to hem 33"